


a second chance at goodbye

by starksnack



Category: Avengers Assemble (Cartoon), Marvel 19919, Marvel 616, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Grief/Mourning, M/M, Mojoworld, Multiverse Shenanigans, Post 616 Steve Dying, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Post-Civil War, dating game, gameshow
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-07
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-12 10:20:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29258841
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starksnack/pseuds/starksnack
Summary: Grief-stricken after Civil War, Tony is sucked into Mojoworld to star in the SteveTony dating game. Mojo only wants to find Tony a new Steve, but not everything is as it seems.
Relationships: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Comments: 6
Kudos: 28
Collections: 2021 Captain America/Iron Man Remix Exchange





	a second chance at goodbye

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Cathalinaheart](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cathalinaheart/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Mojo presents: The SteveTony Dating Game](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24543247) by [Cathalinaheart](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cathalinaheart/pseuds/Cathalinaheart). 



> special thanks to lena for explaining 616 canon to me and giving this mess a beta read.

Every day Tony woke up and stared at the ceiling. The mansion was empty save for him, and it probably would be until his last breath. Today, like the day before it and the day before that, he didn’t move to swing his legs out of bed. His mind was startlingly blank, devoid of equations, ideas, and the genius spark he was known for.

He hadn’t gotten out of bed since he’d delivered Steve’s eulogy at the funeral last week and it was only thanks to Jarvis, bless his heart, that he hadn’t joined Steve yet, succumbing to starvation or thirst or any of the other things he would have gladly welcomed in this state.

He thought back to the letter Steve had left him asking him to take care of Bucky. So far Tony had done diddly squat. He needed to get out of bed and follow through on Steve’s dying wish. But Tony was weak and selfish.

A knock on the door didn’t draw Tony’s head up or pull a response out of him, but Jarvis entered anyway, a platter balanced in his hand as he stepped across the threshold. From the corner of his eye he could see his butler’s nose wrinkle before the bed was dipping with his weight and Jarvis was looking down at him, blue eyes concerned.

“You are indispensable to me,” Tony mumbled sincerely. Since Steve, Tony had felt the strong urge to consistently let Jarvis know how much his companionship meant to Tony.

“I have your brunch,” Jarvis smiled, gesturing at the platter just out of Tony’s line of vision. “Blueberry waffles. And I’m making your favourite, burgers, for dinner.”

Though Tony wasn’t hungry, he put on an enthusiastic smile for Jarvis, knowing that his old friend saw right through him. Just as Tony was contemplating the energy required to sit up so he could eat his food, a bright, burning light encased his prone form, swallowing him in it’s incandescent embrace.

Tony didn’t really think this would be what death felt like, he frowned, as the comfort of the bed disappeared from beneath him. Between one blink and the next, he was standing, dressed in a three piece suit with his hair perfectly coiffed, the smell of cologne filled his nostrils and he ached remembering how Steve liked this one. Looking down at himself, he delighted in the tie looped around his neck, it was silk with little arc reactors on it. Steve had gotten it for him for his birthday a few years back and it was something Tony cherished.

Suddenly the roar of an ecstatic audience filled the space and Tony winced at the volume as he blinked. Light and colour filtered into his senses and he was able to make out what looked like a studio set before he finally felt solid earth beneath them.

“Good evening my guys, gals, and non-binary pals, welcome to Mojoworld!”

Tony raised a brow as he looked over the man holding a microphone. He was heavy-set with blond hair and a nasally voice. Tony grimaced at the grating sound as Mojo gestured at Tony with an award winning smile. “Here we have Tony Stark from Earth-616 who has lost his Steve.”

Tony flinched at the reminder, feeling tears prick at his eyes as he tried to figure out where he was. As he surveyed the audience again, Tony pasted on a press smile, ready for whatever mind tricks this was supposed to be. The faces in the audience weren’t exactly human and he was pretty sure there was a racoon in the front row. There were three pedestals across from the one he was standing on and Tony worried that he wasn’t the only pulled into this alternate dimension or whatever he was experiencing.

The host pointed at the other side of the room. “Our contestants today are Nomad from Earth-616, Spider King from Earth-19919, and Captain America from Earth-199999. All of them have lost their Tonys so today we are going to be playing the Stevetony dating game! My name is Mojo and I’ll be your host tonight.” Mojo turned to him and Tony felt a shiver run up his spine, the hairs at the back of his neck standing at attention. “Tell us about yourself Tony.”

For the first time in his life, Tony stuttered as a camera was shoved in his face. All the Steves standing on the pedestals across from him were aching mockeries of his partner and he was slammed with waves of grief as he tried to collect his thoughts.

“My name is Tony, I am the Director of SHIELD and the current CEO of Stark Industries. I pilot the Iron Man armour and I am a member of the Illuminati...” Tony trailed off, wondering why he felt so compelled to share all this information as the audience clapped politely at his introduction. His brows furrowed, but Mojo was already moving on to the Steves lining the other side of the room.

When he tuned back in, the first Steve was speaking. His eyes were red-rimmed and he looked a little worse for wear as he crossed his arms over a broad chest. His hair was more garish than the other two, almost like it had been dyed blond and not well, despite that, Tony found that he liked this Steve’s plump lower lip and the way his mouth moved around words.

“My name is Steve, I’ve made a lot of mistakes. The biggest mistake I ever made was not telling Tony I loved him before-” Steve broke off, his head in his hands as he sobbed. “All he ever wanted was to protect us. I promised him together and we lost because of me.”

“Okay,” Mojo widened his eyes at the audience. “Awkward,” he sang, moving his shoulders as if he could shake off the weight of the emotions Steve had just presented.

There was a hearty laugh from the studio audience and Tony briefly wondered how he’d ended up on such a sadistic show. No shade to any of the Steves on the platforms across from him, but none of them could replace the beautifully wonderful man he’d lost. And surely the Steve that had just introduced himself could understand that too.

“Up next we have Spider King,” Mojo pointed to the next man in the lineup, though the Captain America uniform was the only indication that this was even Steve.

“I’m Spider King,” Steve introduced himself and Tony quirked a brow at his hulking form. At least this Steve would be satisfying in the sack, the extra limbs were kind of intriguing. Tony blinked, wondering where the thought had come from, it wouldn’t have surprised him if he hadn’t been feeling grieved about the loss of his own Steve seconds ago.

Tony didn’t like that he was struggling with his own thoughts. It felt like wading through syrup and he was mildly confused. There was a lack of clarity he had only felt a few times before and it reeked of mind control in a way that he hated. The lack of agency and brilliance were things he mourned the loss of as he tried to figure out what it was that was dampening his senses.

By the time he was focused on Mojo, he was introducing the next Steve, one that tugged on Tony’s heartstrings a little and had him captivated by the timbre of his voice.

“My name is also Steve if you can believe it,” Nomad began, shooting Tony an adorably boyish look from underneath his lashes that reminded Tony of his own Steve so much he ached. “After what the government did, I couldn’t really back them. But a little Hawkie told me I still need to fight for what I believe in so I became Nomad. The belly button window is a plus.” He grinned pointing down at his uniform before winking at Tony.

Tony’s jaw dropped, his brain finally going back over the introductions. Nomad Steve had been introduced as from the same Earth as him and now that Tony was thinking about it, he remembered being upset about Steve giving up the mantle of Captain America.

In hindsight, Tony was surprised he hadn’t put two and two together. Steve had disappeared, Nomad had shown up, and the moment Steve was back, Nomad had gone dark again. It had barely registered as a blip with all the things Tony had going on and his alcoholism had surely added to the holes in his memory, but this was his Steve.

“I didn’t know it was you in the armour,” Nomad Steve continued, scratching his chin. “But it’s definitely better than the theory I had about you and Iron Man being a couple.” That had Nomad Steve wrinkling his nose. “I’ve always been sweet on you.”

The studio audience cooed at the display, and Tony could practically see the heart eyes coming from all of them. Then the words hit Tony like a punch in the chest. His Steve, his best friend, his everything, was sweet on him and it took him dying and this twisted gameshow for him to find out.

“Doesn’t that just warm your heart?” Mojo’s grating voice cut in and he grinned at Nomad and then Tony. “When we come back, we’ll have questions for all four of our guests to find the perfect Steve for Tony to go home with!”

Outro music began playing and Tony felt like his strings had been cut, sagging under the sudden weight of grief for Steve. He almost collapsed when he felt warm arms slipping around his shoulders.

When he looked up, the grief stricken Steve was holding him up, offering him a watery smile as the other two came to a stop near him.

“You okay?” Spider King asked gruffly and Tony nodded as a shiver ran up his spine.

“Guys,” Mojo’s voice cut through their group; he looked frustrated as a makeup artist patted powder across his brow. “I need all of you to play up the emotions, our ratings are not nearly high enough for tonight.” Mojo pointed to a screen in the corner that Tony hadn’t noticed, the rating meter only halfway to maxxed out. “I am not opposed to making you three,” he pointed at the Steves, “fight to the death if the gameshow is not a success.”

With that Mojo turned, shouting for his underlings to bring him some props to try and raise their ratings. Tony didn’t want to see what he turned up with, especially since he didn’t have the suit.

“You’re tall,” the Steve holding him murmured and Tony raised a confused brow at him. “My Tony is short, and brown eyed.” He smiled as though in memory and Tony felt connected to this stranger in their shared grief. He imagined that losing Steve for him was like this Steve losing his Tony.

“So, are we all in agreement that we should be figuring out how to defeat Mojo and get home?” Nomad Steve asked, leaning toward them all with a cocked brow. “Because something smells fishy to me.”

“It’s mind control,” Tony replied, standing fully and patting Earth-199999 Steve on the chest in thanks. And wow that was a lot of numbers, Tony would stick to calling him sad Steve. “I think we have to figure out how to beat Mojo at his own game so we can all get home.”

Spider King was the only Cap with a shield, but because he had so many arms, he gave it up to sad Steve who was dressed down in civvies. Though Tony did note that the plaid button down looked great when it was rolled up to show off his beefy forearms.

Tony and the rest of the Steve’s ducked into hiding around the set. Considering Mojo hadn’t done anything to harm them yet, he didn’t think the fight would be that arduous, but the way he had threatened the three Steves made Tony think that Mojo might have something more sinister up his sleeve if they didn’t get the views he wanted.

The moment Mojo came back on stage, Spider King acted, grabbing him by the collar and flinging him toward the audience with a hefty throw, Tony’s eyes widened as he crept around the set. He didn’t have the armour so he was the most squishy human out of all of them and the last thing he wanted was to die without anyone in his universe knowing.

Ducking backstage, he found a prop shield and, even though it wasn’t nearly as durable as vibranium, it was heavy enough that Tony figured it would pack a punch if he threw it hard enough.

When Tony finally stepped back out into the glaring spotlight, he saw all three Steve’s were taking on Mojo. The live studio audience had fled and Mojo looked a little green around the gills as Tony eyed the large screen mounted to the ceiling. The ratings displayed on the screen were higher than they had been before and a staggering profit count was also flashing beside the numbers.

With a growl, Tony hurled the makeshift shield at the screen, shattering the glass with a satisfying crack and watching as the entire monitor fell, crushing Mojo under its considerable weight.

He and the three Steve’s all looked at each other, silence stretching between them.

“So.. does anyone know how we get home?” Spider King cut through the silence, his legs shifting as he tucked them back behind his body.

“I’m sure Tony can figure it out,” Nomad smiled encouragingly at him and the four of them made their way backstage to where Tony had spotted a huge control panel while he was looking for a weapon.

Above the panel were monitors, some of them with cut feed but many more were live with snapshots from what Tony assumed were the multiverse. Tony’s heart warmed when he saw young versions of him and Steve at what looked like a academic setting, they were both sitting in a hot tub on top of a tower. On another monitor, Steve was painting a picture of Tony in the workshop, and though there was no audio, Tony could tell he was humming by the sway of his hips. There was one screen where the pixelated Steve’s chest was emblazoned with the Hydra emblem and Tony bit his lip, looking away.

Briefly, Tony wondered how many Steves and Tonys had gone through this game. It was obvious that they were fated, at least in Mojo’s eyes. But Tony, like the sad Steve from Earth-199999, had somehow managed to lose his better half. Tony hoped at least the majority of Mojo’s contestants had won.

After surveying the setup for a moment, Tony picked up a weird ray gun type weapon attached to the monitor with a keypad.

“I think this is it,” he told the other Steves. “You type in the universe code and it sends you there.” He ran his fingers over the keypad, he wished he had the time to study the science, but sooner or later Mojo would stagger back into conciousness and Tony didn’t want him or any of the other Steves to be there.

“You should go,” sad Steve suggested. “We can all watch out for Mojo, you figured out the tech so you should get home first.”

Tony shook his head, “I know how the portal works, so I should go through last.”

Three pairs of identical blue puppy dog eyes assaulted him and Tony folded instantly. There was no winning against the stubborn of three Steves. Tony keyed 616 into the pad, biting his lip as he pulled the trigger on the ray gun.

Light split through the room as a portal opened backstage bathing them all in its warm glow.

Tony stood at the edge of the breach his heart in his throat. He wasn’t ready, but he didn’t think he’d ever be. He was a man of the future though, and he would always grab it with both hands. Losing Steve had made him forget that, and while he would always be close to his heart, Tony had to find the strength to move forward.

Turning, Tony hugged the other Steves goodbye, disappointed when Spider King didn’t even try to feel him up with all his limbs. Emotion balled in Tony’s throat like peanut butter because espite the fact that these men were strangers to him, Tony knew them intimately. At their core, they were all Steve and echoes of the man Tony lost were in everything they did.

Nomad Steve embraced him last, holding Tony tight. Tony had missed the unique way he smelled, inhaling deep breaths of it because this would be the last time he got to hold his Steve, living breathing flesh beneath his fingers in a way that he would forever long for.

“You gave me a home,” Steve’s voice was deep and steady, the words bringing out a memory that pooled tears in Tony’s eyes. When Steve pulled away he gripped Tony’s fingers tightly, eyes so azure as his gaze bore into Tony, stripping him vulnerable. “I don’t know what happens between now and where you are in the timeline. But I do know that I love you and I always will.”

“I love you too,” Tony whispered back, peace washing over him as the words finally left his lips to fill the space between them. Tony’s heart felt like it could burst, warmth curling in the cage of his ribs as he resisted the urge to lean forward and kiss Steve. The words were enough, they would have to be.

Turning around, Tony set his jaw. He would fulfill Steve’s dying wish. He would take care of Bucky and be everything Steve always knew he could be.

Taking a deep breath, Tony stepped through the portal, falling back into bed like nothing had ever happened.


End file.
